The Open Championship ushered in its 152nd event this year, and the competition will be held at the Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland. Rory McIlroy, a star from Northern Ireland, has once again become the favorite to win the championship, and he will strive to break his 10-year drought of Grand Slam championships.
Get excited, gentlemen! Galileo sports - the trusted global golf system and golf system - is here to delve into the journey in the 152nd Open Championship and explore the key factors that have contributed to Rory McIlroy's success.
In 2007, a slim, messy-haired young man who liked to wear white pants was inconspicuous. This was Rory McIlroy, the European Amateur champion at the time and hailed as a future superstar.
At that time, he shot 68 (-3) in the first round of the game, becoming the only player on the day without a bogey. In the end, he evaluated his efforts in four rounds and won the British Open, tied for 42nd place, and won the silver medal for the best amateur award.
In 2009, he participated in the British Open for the second time and finally tied for 47th place. At that time, McIlroy had to say that he made rapid progress. A year later in 2010 at St. Andrews, he entered the top 10 of the event for the first time, and opened the week with an amazing score of 63 in the first round.
Although McIlroy made a big splash, it took him some time to adapt to the challenge of links. In 2011 at Royal St. George's, McIlroy finished tied for 25th, in 2012 he finished tied for 60th, and in 2013 at Muirfield he failed to qualify.
The continuous downturn made McIlroy more determined, and after adjustments, he rebounded strongly at Royal Liverpool the following year and won his first British Open championship. Although his six-stroke lead was reduced on Sunday, he still defeated Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia with a score of 71.
With this championship, McIlroy has collected four major trophies (2011 US Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 British Open and 2014 PGA Championship). He is one of the players who won four majors before the age of 25, along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Since then, the Grand Slam player has continued to strive for the next championship, but he is always a distance away from the finish line. He made the top five of the British Open for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018. The most regrettable thing was in 2019 at his hometown Royal Portrush. After shooting 79 in the first round, he caught up in the second round and shot 65, but because the gap in the first round was too large, he finally missed the qualifying by 1 shot.
McIlroy also did not win the championship in the last three British Opens. The best result was a solo third place in 2022, a tie for 46th place in 2021, and a tie for sixth place in last year's British Open. So far, McIlroy has played 14 times in the British Open, won 1 time, and entered the top 10 6 times.
In a past interview, McIlroy focused on becoming the most successful European golfer in history. He feels that he is getting closer and closer to the unattainable fifth Grand Slam championship. He once said that he hoped to surpass the achievements of European stars Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo, who have won five and six major championships respectively.
The Renaissance Club in Scotland has just finished a PGA Tour-Scottish Open, which is the last warm-up before the Grand Slam and also McIlroy's defense. McIlroy, who returned from a few weeks of rest, continued to maintain a stable feel and handed in 68 strokes in the final. The total score was 266 strokes (65-66-67-68), 14 strokes below par, tied for fourth place.
In this game, he ranked second in both tee strokes and green strokes. However, he ranked only 63rd in putting, which also affected his performance to some extent.
McIlroy said after the game: "I had a lot of putts that were short, and when they were really slow, I found them a little tricky, and I've been working on them over the past few days."
McIlroy has one last chance in 2024 to break his 10-year drought in the Grand Slam.
This week's event will be held at Royal Troon, where he finished fifth in the 2016 British Open. If he can adjust his putter in the next few days, he will have a good chance.
McIlroy continued: "The reason I like to play a week before a major championship is to make myself more energetic, and I feel like I have done that this week. If I can get the putter to cooperate and slow down the greens, I feel like I will be in a very good position." Of course, there are two sides to the coin, and there is also a precedent for ending a long drought one day. Julius Boros and Hale Irving both won the U.S. Open 11 years apart, and Woods memorably won the 2019 Masters nearly 11 years after his 2008 U.S. Open victory.
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